<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?><?xml-stylesheet href="http://www.blogger.com/styles/atom.css" type="text/css"?><feed xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom' xmlns:openSearch='http://a9.com/-/spec/opensearchrss/1.0/' xmlns:georss='http://www.georss.org/georss' xmlns:gd='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005' xmlns:thr='http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0'><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724</id><updated>2011-04-21T19:06:03.126-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Underground Star</title><subtitle type='html'>A corner of the web for me to post the wanderings of my mind.</subtitle><link rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#feed' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default?max-results=100'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/'/><link rel='hub' href='http://pubsubhubbub.appspot.com/'/><author><name>Christy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18002289429103155268</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Z6Cgo2O9gmU/S-nf65O31tI/AAAAAAAAABA/fmFWtfKLLc8/S220/may+9+2009.jpg'/></author><generator version='7.00' uri='http://www.blogger.com'>Blogger</generator><openSearch:totalResults>40</openSearch:totalResults><openSearch:startIndex>1</openSearch:startIndex><openSearch:itemsPerPage>100</openSearch:itemsPerPage><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-64824129543755915</id><published>2009-01-21T00:26:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2009-01-21T01:37:53.645-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Inauguration Joy</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Z6Cgo2O9gmU/SXa0U_Q3OdI/AAAAAAAAAAw/5x4wf6jCMd0/s1600-h/Obama.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 210px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Z6Cgo2O9gmU/SXa0U_Q3OdI/AAAAAAAAAAw/5x4wf6jCMd0/s320/Obama.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5293616684693141970" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Barack Obama and Joe Biden were inaugurated yesterday.  Change has finally come to America.  It will take time for our country to turn things around, but now, we finally have an administration in place that can and will effect those much-needed changes.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now, what America needs more than anything is to take the hope and promise of the new presidency, add a healthy dose of patience to it, and, no matter what, just continue to believe that we can take our country and make it what we want it to be.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We're gonna be all right, America!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-64824129543755915?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/64824129543755915/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=64824129543755915&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/64824129543755915'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/64824129543755915'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2009/01/inaguration-joy.html' title='Inauguration Joy'/><author><name>Christy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18002289429103155268</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Z6Cgo2O9gmU/S-nf65O31tI/AAAAAAAAABA/fmFWtfKLLc8/S220/may+9+2009.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Z6Cgo2O9gmU/SXa0U_Q3OdI/AAAAAAAAAAw/5x4wf6jCMd0/s72-c/Obama.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-8594002574292024566</id><published>2009-01-19T21:47:00.002-05:00</published><updated>2009-01-19T21:58:31.963-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Twins and Rays in the World Baseball Classic!</title><content type='html'>Several players on my teams active rosters have been announced for the provisional rosters for the World Baseball Classic.  Congrats to everyone! (Not long 'til baseball begins again........and I can't wait.  :)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rays:&lt;br /&gt;Matt Garza (Mexico)&lt;br /&gt;Scott Kazmir (USA)&lt;br /&gt;Evan Longoria (USA)&lt;br /&gt;J.P. Howell (USA)&lt;br /&gt;Dioner Navarro (Venezuela)&lt;br /&gt;Carlos Pena (Dominican Republic)&lt;br /&gt;Grant Balfour (Australia)&lt;br /&gt;Akinora Iwamura (Japan)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Twins:&lt;br /&gt;Joe Nathan (USA)&lt;br /&gt;Justin Morneau (Canada)&lt;br /&gt;Nick Punto (Italy)&lt;br /&gt;Francisco Liriano (Dominican Republic)&lt;br /&gt;Jesse Crain (Canada)&lt;br /&gt;Jose Mijares (Venezuela)&lt;br /&gt;Luke Hughes (Australia)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-8594002574292024566?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/8594002574292024566/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=8594002574292024566&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/8594002574292024566'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/8594002574292024566'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2009/01/twins-and-rays-in-world-baseball.html' title='Twins and Rays in the World Baseball Classic!'/><author><name>Christy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18002289429103155268</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Z6Cgo2O9gmU/S-nf65O31tI/AAAAAAAAABA/fmFWtfKLLc8/S220/may+9+2009.jpg'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-6013224399373050603</id><published>2009-01-08T23:30:00.005-05:00</published><updated>2009-01-08T23:43:52.477-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Lost One to the Dark Side........</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="text-align: center;"&gt;&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Z6Cgo2O9gmU/SWbTPx5p1rI/AAAAAAAAAAo/3QeyHL-gXUY/s1600-h/roccoserious.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 231px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Z6Cgo2O9gmU/SWbTPx5p1rI/AAAAAAAAAAo/3QeyHL-gXUY/s320/roccoserious.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5289147080439879346" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Rocco Baldelli is going to the Red Sox.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This sucks.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I wish him all the luck in the world, but the freakin' RED SOX?????&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He's so much better than they deserve.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Love you &amp;amp; will miss you, Rocco.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-6013224399373050603?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/6013224399373050603/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=6013224399373050603&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/6013224399373050603'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/6013224399373050603'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2009/01/lost-one-to-dark-side.html' title='Lost One to the Dark Side........'/><author><name>Christy</name><uri>http://www.blogger.com/profile/18002289429103155268</uri><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Z6Cgo2O9gmU/S-nf65O31tI/AAAAAAAAABA/fmFWtfKLLc8/S220/may+9+2009.jpg'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Z6Cgo2O9gmU/SWbTPx5p1rI/AAAAAAAAAAo/3QeyHL-gXUY/s72-c/roccoserious.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-8945063371778692810</id><published>2008-12-31T22:57:00.004-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-31T23:29:23.772-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Year Fading........</title><content type='html'>So, here we are--just a little over an hour until the new year begins.  I feel like I should say something inspiring and sappy, but I don't know what that would be.  So, by the light of my multicolored C'mas tree, I'll just say what's on my mind instead.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2008 was an odd year.  I lost my mother this year.  That should make it a bad year.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But good things also happened.  I proved to myself that I'm much more capable of dealing with adversity than I thought I would be.  I also learned that, if I really want to do something, I can accomplish it just through sheer force of will.  I wrote 50,000 words on a novel for NaNoWriMo this year, and the last 25,000 of those were written in only 3 days.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've reconnected with a couple of old friends, which I thought would never happen.  I'd already placed those relationships in the past because I thought they were irretrievable.  Life threw me a curve ball on that one.  But that's OK.  I've gotten used to those, and I can hit them out of the park pretty easily.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(I'm using baseball metaphors.  Now I know I'm addicted to the game.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Speaking of baseball, both of my teams did rather well this year.  The Twins made it to the playoffs, and my Rays damn near won the World Series.  (In my heart, they did win, so take that, Philly!).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And, best of all, America elected a new president.  A smart president.  A competent president.  One who's inspiring, and made me care again about this country in a positive manner.  One that makes me feel like it still might be possible to get this country on the right track again.  We need to turn this nation around, get it moving in the right direction (and by that, I mean, to the left) again.  I don't want to forget the last eight years because that would be dangerous, but I do want to prove to the world that, despite the Bush/Cheney fiasco, most Americans know how to correct even the most grievous of mistakes.  And that is what President Obama signifies for me (and, I hope, for the rest of the world)--course correction.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This year also served as the year where I finally discovered what I really wanted to do at school, and I've joined the sociology grad dept. to work on my Master's.  Most (but not all) of the coursework is interesting to me, which is more than I can say for any other dept. I was in.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Personally, I've learned to speak my mind a little more than I used to.  I realized that shutting up and giving in wasn't getting me anywhere that I wanted to be.  I've lost some of my shyness and nervousness about speaking my mind, and that's improved things for me quite a bit.  I still have issues with public speaking and giving presentations, but at least I can do them without completely freaking out now.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, what's on tap in 2009 for me?  I'm not really sure, and I'm all right with that.  There are things that I'm hoping for, but we'll just have to wait and see how things work out.  Right now, I just want to live in the moment, not overthink things, and just go with the flow for a little while.  That's been working for me lately, so I'm gonna stick with it for a while.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;What's 2009 hold for you????&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Love you all, my friends, and Happy New Year!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Take care of yourselves,&lt;br /&gt;Christy&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-8945063371778692810?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/8945063371778692810/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=8945063371778692810&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/8945063371778692810'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/8945063371778692810'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2008/12/year-fading.html' title='Year Fading........'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-4394635085946201506</id><published>2008-10-15T22:51:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2008-10-15T22:54:28.297-04:00</updated><title type='text'>My predictions....</title><content type='html'>Rays win vs. the Red Sox in 5 games.&lt;br /&gt;Phillies win vs. the Dodgers in 5 games.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Then, Rays win vs. Phillies in 5 (maybe 6 games.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;"&gt;GO RAYS!&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-4394635085946201506?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/4394635085946201506/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=4394635085946201506&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/4394635085946201506'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/4394635085946201506'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2008/10/my-predictions.html' title='My predictions....'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-5904726825135222140</id><published>2008-10-08T14:38:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2008-10-08T14:42:36.975-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Ever have one of those days........</title><content type='html'>......where you just feel like you can't please anyone about anything?  When, no matter how much you offer to do, it just gets thrown back in your face because you're not doing what everyone else thinks you should do?  And, while trying to do all of that, you end up making yourself completely miserable? &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well, I'm having a whole succession of those days right now.  So, you know what I've decided?  I'm going to stop worrying about how everyone else is and just try to do what's right for me, and the rest of the world can just learn to deal.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Grrr........&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-5904726825135222140?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/5904726825135222140/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=5904726825135222140&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/5904726825135222140'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/5904726825135222140'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2008/10/ever-have-one-of-those-days.html' title='Ever have one of those days........'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-4001286229576492190</id><published>2008-10-02T21:10:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2008-10-02T21:13:38.875-04:00</updated><title type='text'>I'm just saying.......</title><content type='html'>Watching this debate is excruciatingly painful.........that woman goes out of her way to showcase her clueless idiocy. I feel sick, and it's only been 10 minutes.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-4001286229576492190?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/4001286229576492190/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=4001286229576492190&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/4001286229576492190'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/4001286229576492190'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2008/10/im-just-saying.html' title='I&apos;m just saying.......'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-4640894017733670908</id><published>2008-09-24T16:08:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2008-09-24T16:09:52.265-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Ohhh........OK.  Now I get it!</title><content type='html'>I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.....&lt;br /&gt;* If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic, different."&lt;br /&gt;* Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you're a quintessential American story.&lt;br /&gt;* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.&lt;br /&gt;* Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.&lt;br /&gt;* Graduate from Harvard Law School and you are unstable.&lt;br /&gt;* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well-grounded.&lt;br /&gt;* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor at the University of Chicago, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become Chairman of the Illinois state senate's Health and Human Services Committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 136 bills, creating legislation regarding lobbying and electoral fraud, climate change, nuclear terrorism, and care for returned U.S. military personnel, and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment andPublic Works and Veteran's Affairs committees - you don't have any real leadership experience.&lt;br /&gt;* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.&lt;br /&gt;* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.&lt;br /&gt;* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a good Christian.&lt;br /&gt;* If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the how to teach kids to identify and resist sexual predators and the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.&lt;br /&gt;* If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence-only with no other option in sex education in your state's school system, while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant - you're very responsible.&lt;br /&gt;* If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America's.&lt;br /&gt;* If you're husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWIconviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.&lt;br /&gt;OK, much clearer now.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;****I don't know who originally wrote this, so I can't give credit, but whoever you are,  THANK YOU!****&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-4640894017733670908?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/4640894017733670908/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=4640894017733670908&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/4640894017733670908'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/4640894017733670908'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2008/09/ohhhok-now-i-get-it.html' title='Ohhh........OK.  Now I get it!'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-9178084732069657930</id><published>2008-09-08T22:10:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2008-09-08T22:16:06.596-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Jammin' to some Iffy.....</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SMXcYB9xbUI/AAAAAAAAABE/M2VSK_VnIa0/s1600-h/kirkdark.bmp"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5243839646545308994" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SMXcYB9xbUI/AAAAAAAAABE/M2VSK_VnIa0/s320/kirkdark.bmp" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;I put in "Biota Bondo" earlier today because it's Kirk Johnson's birthday, and I'm gonna follow that with some old school Run Westy Run.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Maybe I'm a bit of a nerd to mark the birthdays of my favorite musicians, but I'm OK with that.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Besides, isn't any reason to celebrate a good reason? Even if it's not &lt;em&gt;my &lt;/em&gt;birthday? I think so.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, Happy Birthday, Kirk Johnson.........wherever you're keeping yourself these days.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Hope it rocks!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-9178084732069657930?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/9178084732069657930/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=9178084732069657930&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/9178084732069657930'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/9178084732069657930'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2008/09/jammin-to-some-iffy.html' title='Jammin&apos; to some Iffy.....'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SMXcYB9xbUI/AAAAAAAAABE/M2VSK_VnIa0/s72-c/kirkdark.bmp' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-5723726827349765179</id><published>2008-08-17T00:11:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2008-08-17T00:36:00.751-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Long time, no blog........</title><content type='html'>What to say?  So much has happened lately that I almost don't know where (or when) to start.  I suppose the biggest thing is that my mother passed away almost a month ago.  I won't say much about it--mainly because I just don't know what to say, and it's very difficult for me to talk about.  My feelings about the whole situation are difficult, and they're almost impossible to explain in any coherent fashion to anyone else.  Right now, I'm dealing with it--sometimes in my own way, and sometimes I'm refusing to deal with it, whatever that means.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Otherwise, my life has been basically school and work, with quite a bit of baseball and tons of music thrown in for stress relief.  I just finished my classwork for summer about 10 days ago, and fall semester starts again in 2 days.  I don't feel like I got any sort of break at all, and for the first time in a very long time, I'm just not ready to start the school grind again so soon, but I have no choice, really.  Hopefully, it will be better once I actually get into the routine again.  I'm not holding my breath, though.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Baseball--My Twins are swinging between #1 and #2 in the AL Central and my Rays are solidly #1 in the AL East.  They're both doing so well that my biggest fear at this point is that I'm going to have to watch them battle it out with each other in the playoffs.  Ouch!  I wouldn't want either of them to lose!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've said it before, and I'll likely say it again.  MATT GARZA!!!!!  The Twins were crazy to let him go--he's got a passion for this game that's extraordinary, and the skills to back it up.  He may only be 24, but look what he can already do!  I'm gonna be watching him for years--the guy's electric.  I plan on being there the day he's elected into the Hall of Fame.  Not that I think he'd ever read this, but, just in case---Mr. Garza, how does Cooperstown sound to you???&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Work is just work, with all its corresponding joys and annoyances.  Not much to say there.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have a new crush on someone that's been developing for quite a while--before I even realized it, I think.  It's not exactly a crush, though.  I think it may be more serious than that.  I'm too afraid that I'll screw up a friendship if I told him though, so I don't know what's going to happen about him, if anything at all.  You'll probably be hearing about him again, no doubt.  (Really, I thought I was too old for all this teenagery stuff........sigh).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's been a rough summer.  Looking forward to autumn, and hoping it's going to be a good time of my life.  Things always look better to me in the autumn.  Something about cool breezes, colorful rustling leaves, Halloween, and jacket weather really improves my outlook on the world.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-5723726827349765179?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/5723726827349765179/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=5723726827349765179&amp;isPopup=true' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/5723726827349765179'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/5723726827349765179'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2008/08/long-time-no-blog.html' title='Long time, no blog........'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-5974547643692884811</id><published>2008-07-07T02:14:00.001-04:00</published><updated>2008-07-07T02:14:55.304-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Please vote!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div&gt;Help me get Evan Longoria and Corey Hart to this year's All-Star Game in NYC!!!  Vote often!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;script type="text/javascript" src="http://widgets.clearspring.com/o/486957c54c88e2fc/4871b45e28281f3a/48712264bf9bbd81/34ffc06c/widget.js"&gt;&lt;/script&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-5974547643692884811?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/5974547643692884811/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=5974547643692884811&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/5974547643692884811'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/5974547643692884811'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2008/07/please-vote.html' title='Please vote!'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-5373660463862248245</id><published>2008-05-03T23:03:00.003-04:00</published><updated>2008-05-03T23:06:19.886-04:00</updated><title type='text'>A Gem From the Past......</title><content type='html'>I was looking at a friend's site, and found a link to my old blog account.  There were only two posts on there--one a complete throwaway.  The other one, however, still strikes a chord with me.  So, as a tribute to my 2005 self, and so it doesn't get lost forever:  here's that post.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#009900;"&gt;Monday, January 03, 2005 (originally):&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;a name="110478440479849361"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#009900;"&gt;The Nature Of Imagination or, alternatively, "I Want My Childhood Back!"&lt;br /&gt;I&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;em&gt;&lt;span style="color:#009900;"&gt; hate being a grown up, but I haven't truly been a kid since my 10th birthday. I do remember it, though. All the poetry of being a kid is lost on my grown-up self, and I don't think I'm alone in this. It's something that happens to everyone, I think. Something that happens when you're young and thinking about all the things you're going to do when you "grow up." You never realize how much fun stuff you're going to miss out on when you're older. Things that I used to enjoy all those years ago are now just inconveniences. Like snow. I used to love getting the day off from school when it would snow and then spending the entire day outside--sledding, making snowmen, snowball fights with my Dad, all of that. When you're 7, what could possibly be better than that? Now, snow's just something that gets my car stuck in the parking lot, makes it difficult or impossible to get to work, and is a terror to drive in. And trains? Remember when a train was almost a magical thing? I remember cheering when we'd get stopped by a train, trying to guess how many cars there would be, and then gleefully counting the cars out loud. It's just not like that anymore--trains are just things that get between me and where I needed to be 10 minutes ago. I hate that. I want those feelings back. I want to live with a kid's sense of wonder and fun and joy in the world. I don't know if it's possible, but I want it to be. And doesn't that count for something? &lt;/span&gt;&lt;/em&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-5373660463862248245?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/5373660463862248245/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=5373660463862248245&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/5373660463862248245'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/5373660463862248245'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2008/05/gem-from-past.html' title='A Gem From the Past......'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-5615819458610588796</id><published>2008-05-03T22:47:00.002-04:00</published><updated>2008-05-03T22:52:02.231-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Baseball Season is soooo gooood right now!</title><content type='html'>Matt Garza got his first win for the Rays last Thursday.&lt;br /&gt;Boof Bonser pitched a game on Tuesday that was an absolute joy to watch.&lt;br /&gt;Minnesota is now #1 in the AL Central, and Tampa Bay is tied for #2 in the AL East.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's been a damn fine week to be a Twins and Rays fan.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-5615819458610588796?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/5615819458610588796/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=5615819458610588796&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/5615819458610588796'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/5615819458610588796'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2008/05/baseball-season-is-soooo-gooood-right.html' title='Baseball Season is soooo gooood right now!'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-452585353536119988</id><published>2008-04-03T02:05:00.005-04:00</published><updated>2008-12-12T03:12:38.549-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Tampa Bay 1, Minnesota 0.</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/R_R1CPPYLXI/AAAAAAAAAA8/JAgvJlLDyXM/s1600-h/mattwiththerays.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5184897752321502578" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/R_R1CPPYLXI/AAAAAAAAAA8/JAgvJlLDyXM/s320/mattwiththerays.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;p&gt;Matt Garza working a Rays uniform.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Good for Tampa Bay.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Good for Matt Garza.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Still love Minnesota, but now they've got Floridan competition for my baseball heart, because I just love watching Garza pitch.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It's like watching a storm building in the distance, then seeing it break in a flurry of thunder and lightning. The man just rocks the game. It's that simple, and that exciting.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-452585353536119988?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/452585353536119988/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=452585353536119988&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/452585353536119988'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/452585353536119988'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2008/04/tampa-bay-1-minnesota-0.html' title='Tampa Bay 1, Minnesota 0.'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/R_R1CPPYLXI/AAAAAAAAAA8/JAgvJlLDyXM/s72-c/mattwiththerays.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-6499470585399094079</id><published>2008-02-25T23:13:00.003-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-12T03:12:39.066-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Oh no, Not Again!</title><content type='html'>&lt;a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/R8OSuXjBf6I/AAAAAAAAAAs/94P-Zfu1SQw/s1600-h/nader.jpg"&gt;&lt;img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5171138122444013474" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/R8OSuXjBf6I/AAAAAAAAAAs/94P-Zfu1SQw/s320/nader.jpg" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div&gt;I can only hope that whoever said "history tends to repeat itself" is very wrong in this case.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div&gt;This may be the beginning of yet another national nightmare, I'm afraid.&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-6499470585399094079?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/6499470585399094079/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=6499470585399094079&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/6499470585399094079'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/6499470585399094079'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2008/02/oh-no-not-again.html' title='Oh no, Not Again!'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/R8OSuXjBf6I/AAAAAAAAAAs/94P-Zfu1SQw/s72-c/nader.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-3260858493750433568</id><published>2007-11-29T01:12:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2008-12-12T03:12:39.269-05:00</updated><title type='text'>What the HELL were they thinking????</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/R05Zl6nl-cI/AAAAAAAAAAk/x-ESBPXGEms/s1600-h/mattserious.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/R05Zl6nl-cI/AAAAAAAAAAk/x-ESBPXGEms/s320/mattserious.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5138142732801669570" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I just learned that the Twins traded &lt;span style="font-style: italic;"&gt;Matt Garza&lt;/span&gt; to Tampa Bay.  This is seriously disappointing, and I truly believe they're going to regret that ill-considered decision, and probably in the very near future--I don't know, say the beginning of next season?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Matt Garza should still have been wearing a Twins uniform next season.  End of story.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now I have to keep up with two teams.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I love this game.  But, oh, sometimes I hate this game.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Grrr.......&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-3260858493750433568?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/3260858493750433568/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=3260858493750433568&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/3260858493750433568'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/3260858493750433568'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2007/11/what-hell-were-they-thinking.html' title='What the HELL were they thinking????'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/R05Zl6nl-cI/AAAAAAAAAAk/x-ESBPXGEms/s72-c/mattserious.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-6286314924421780782</id><published>2007-11-13T01:50:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2007-11-13T01:55:32.494-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Random Crushes</title><content type='html'>Does this happen to other people?  Or am I just crazy?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You know, you're just going through your life, minding your own business, and then WHAM! (not the band) out of nowhere, you notice something new in someone you're known for quite a while.  And, all of the sudden, because of that one lightning strike moment, you start to realize just how completely amazing this person is?  And you can't figure out why you didn't notice all the cool things about them before?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This just complicates everything......&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-6286314924421780782?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/6286314924421780782/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=6286314924421780782&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/6286314924421780782'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/6286314924421780782'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2007/11/random-crushes.html' title='Random Crushes'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-8999437158014173660</id><published>2007-10-30T01:50:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2007-10-30T01:53:47.757-04:00</updated><title type='text'>NaNo is almost here!</title><content type='html'>Well, it's just under two days until the beginning of &lt;a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org"&gt;NaNoWriMo&lt;/a&gt;!  Everyone wish me luck, because this year, I'd actually love to "win."  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I made this desktop calendar for the event.  Cool, don't you think?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f356/ACertainGrace/Nano%20Wallpaper/mynanocalendar.gif" target="_blank"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f356/ACertainGrace/Nano%20Wallpaper/th_mynanocalendar.gif" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/center&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-8999437158014173660?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/8999437158014173660/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=8999437158014173660&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/8999437158014173660'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/8999437158014173660'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2007/10/nano-is-almost-here.html' title='NaNo is almost here!'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f356/ACertainGrace/Nano%20Wallpaper/th_mynanocalendar.gif' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-2170311504773015261</id><published>2007-09-20T21:11:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2008-12-12T03:12:39.558-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Yay for Matt Garza!</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/RvMb26xl-8I/AAAAAAAAAAM/wTywmkMDWIY/s1600-h/2007spring+training.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/RvMb26xl-8I/AAAAAAAAAAM/wTywmkMDWIY/s320/2007spring+training.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112460632299797442" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Matt Garza, my favorite pitcher for  the Minnesota Twins, got his first win in the Metrodome last night!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Congrats, Matt!&lt;br /&gt;Go Twins!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-2170311504773015261?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/2170311504773015261/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=2170311504773015261&amp;isPopup=true' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/2170311504773015261'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/2170311504773015261'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2007/09/yay-for-matt-garza.html' title='Yay for Matt Garza!'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/RvMb26xl-8I/AAAAAAAAAAM/wTywmkMDWIY/s72-c/2007spring+training.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-8295380691984570071</id><published>2007-09-08T14:18:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2008-12-12T03:12:39.735-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Happy Birthday, Kirk Johnson!</title><content type='html'>&lt;a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/RvMcYaxl-9I/AAAAAAAAAAU/OB2nR58hgpM/s1600-h/kirksinging.jpg"&gt;&lt;img style="margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; float: left; cursor: pointer;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/RvMcYaxl-9I/AAAAAAAAAAU/OB2nR58hgpM/s320/kirksinging.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5112461207825415122" border="0" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Today is Kirk Johnson's birthday!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He's an amazing singer/songwriter and quite possibly my favorite musician.  So, Happy Birthday, Kirk!  Hope it rocks!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So everybody needs to go listen to some Run Westy Run or Iffy today.  If you don't know who those bands are, you should go take a listen to them, because you're really missing out!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Run Westy Run-s/t&lt;br /&gt;Run Westy Run-Hardly Not Even&lt;br /&gt;Run Westy Run-Green Cat Island&lt;br /&gt;Run Westy Run-David's Drum&lt;br /&gt;Run Westy Run-Cockroach Park (good luck finding this one, though)&lt;br /&gt;Iffy- Biota Bondo&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-8295380691984570071?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/8295380691984570071/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=8295380691984570071&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/8295380691984570071'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/8295380691984570071'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2007/09/happy-birthday-kirk-johnson.html' title='Happy Birthday, Kirk Johnson!'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><media:thumbnail xmlns:media='http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/' url='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/RvMcYaxl-9I/AAAAAAAAAAU/OB2nR58hgpM/s72-c/kirksinging.jpg' height='72' width='72'/><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-662335370036021336</id><published>2007-08-28T22:06:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2007-08-28T22:11:35.772-04:00</updated><title type='text'>I HATE CLEVELAND!</title><content type='html'>Well, I at least hate their baseball team.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You see, I've recently gotten seriously into baseball.  I love the Twins.  They've been playing so well lately, and I really had high hopes about this series with Cleveland.  However, my team's just not playing like I know they can right now.  And Cleveland seems to be leading this charmed existence right now.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Let's hope it doesn't last much longer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Go Minnesota!  Go Twins!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-662335370036021336?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/662335370036021336/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=662335370036021336&amp;isPopup=true' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/662335370036021336'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/662335370036021336'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2007/08/i-hate-cleveland.html' title='I HATE CLEVELAND!'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-6832051173540925383</id><published>2007-03-26T00:07:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2007-03-26T00:27:50.713-04:00</updated><title type='text'>This is difficult.......</title><content type='html'>It seems lately that everyone around me is getting exactly what I want.  It feels like quite a few of the people I know are either finding that special someone or are finally discovering that that person was there all along.  It's not that I'm not happy for my friends, or that I don't want them to be happy.  It's just that I want something like that too.  It's hard not to be at least a little envious, a little jealous.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Finding that person isn't happening for me, though.  Everytime I think I've found someone I could really like, whose company I really enjoy, and who I could see myself spending absolutely ridiculous amounts of time with, it never seems to work out the way I wish it would.  And I am at a complete loss as to why that is.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It had gotten to the point that I thought maybe I was just looking for and paying attention to the wrong type of man.  So, I decided that, for a few months, I'd just consider every man I met as someone with "potential."  And I do mean everyone.  Even the ones who seemed unlikely.  Even the ones that were the polar opposite of everything I thought I wanted.  This little experiment proved something to me.  I wasn't wrong about what I want.  I know this because even though I could see good qualities that I'd previously ignored in men I wouldn't normally give a second thought to, it was still the same things as always that really made me sit up and take notice.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Namely:  high intelligence, creativity, sarcastic humor, the ability to make me laugh, very liberal political views, an independence from religion (or at least not requiring me to believe), a strong love of music, art and literature, being easy to talk to, a playful nature, being able to rationally disagree without demeaning another's views, and a sense of fairness.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ok, so I obviously know what I want.  So, why then, when I find a man that possesses most of these qualities, does nothing ever come of it?&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-6832051173540925383?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/6832051173540925383/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=6832051173540925383&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/6832051173540925383'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/6832051173540925383'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2007/03/this-is-difficult.html' title='This is difficult.......'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-9105235617216012625</id><published>2007-03-21T03:33:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2007-03-21T03:39:21.285-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Anyone ever noticed this?</title><content type='html'>Whenever someone accuses you of something, they're most likely guilty of it themselves?&lt;br /&gt;Funny how a &lt;i&gt;certain someone &lt;/i&gt;can identify something wrong with me, but be completely oblivious to their own detriments.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I have one thing to say to this person--take a good hard look at yourself before you start analyzing me and my life.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-9105235617216012625?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/9105235617216012625/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=9105235617216012625&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/9105235617216012625'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/9105235617216012625'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2007/03/anyone-ever-noticed-this.html' title='Anyone ever noticed this?'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-22312872254219645</id><published>2007-03-19T23:29:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2007-03-19T23:31:03.099-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Why do I do this?</title><content type='html'>I mean, seriously, does &lt;em&gt;anyone&lt;/em&gt; even read these anymore??????&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-22312872254219645?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/22312872254219645/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=22312872254219645&amp;isPopup=true' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/22312872254219645'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/22312872254219645'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2007/03/why-do-i-do-this.html' title='Why do I do this?'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-7918429094694801336</id><published>2007-03-16T02:34:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2007-03-16T02:38:27.658-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Two things.....</title><content type='html'>This is pissing me off, so I must say these two things.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1. Atheism is absolutely NOT a religion.&lt;br /&gt;2. Agnosticism is for people who cannot or will not commit to their beliefs, or who are afraid to choose.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-7918429094694801336?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/7918429094694801336/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=7918429094694801336&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/7918429094694801336'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/7918429094694801336'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2007/03/two-things.html' title='Two things.....'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-115973328756244397</id><published>2006-10-01T16:05:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2006-10-01T16:08:58.460-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Birthday Time!</title><content type='html'>October is here--the sun is shining, it's warm and breezy, and it's almost my birthday.  I'll be 33 on Thursday, October 5, and I'm excited about it.  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;For today, at least, things are pretty good.  :)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-115973328756244397?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/115973328756244397/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=115973328756244397&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/115973328756244397'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/115973328756244397'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2006/10/birthday-time.html' title='Birthday Time!'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-115303061246989434</id><published>2006-07-16T02:13:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2006-07-16T02:18:45.830-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Me, as usual, being cryptic....</title><content type='html'>A new possible course for my future opened up yesterday.&lt;br /&gt;I am amazed. I am in awe. I am exhilirated. I am terrified.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-115303061246989434?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/115303061246989434/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=115303061246989434&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/115303061246989434'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/115303061246989434'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2006/07/me-as-usual-being-cryptic.html' title='Me, as usual, being cryptic....'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-114799030661807135</id><published>2006-05-18T18:11:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2006-05-18T18:16:15.193-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Heh........no surprise here!</title><content type='html'>&lt;div style="WIDTH: 386px; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(216,233,237); TEXT-ALIGN: center"&gt;&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Looks like I ought to start picking up some instruments and booking some studio time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Or, maybe, this is just how I should attempt to write from now on?&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Something to consider...........&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt; &lt;/p&gt;&lt;div style="BACKGROUND: rgb(129,172,201); HEIGHT: 4px"&gt;&lt;img style="FLOAT: left" height="4" hspace="0" src="http://www.quizilla.com/images/blue_drk_corner1.gif" /&gt; &lt;img style="FLOAT: right" height="4" hspace="0" src="http://www.quizilla.com/images/blue_drk_corner2.gif" /&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0pt; PADDING-LEFT: 0pt; BACKGROUND: rgb(129,172,201); PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 0pt"&gt;&lt;span style="PADDING-RIGHT: 3px; PADDING-LEFT: 3px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 3px; COLOR: rgb(255,255,255)"&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Which musical genius are you?&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div style="PADDING-RIGHT: 5px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-BOTTOM: 5px; PADDING-TOP: 5px; FONT-FAMILY: Arial; BACKGROUND-COLOR: rgb(216,233,237); TEXT-ALIGN: left"&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;center&gt;&lt;img src="http://images.quizilla.com/V/venusnin/1038015607_squiztrent.jpg" /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;You're" Trent Reznor! You've broke new ground with your innovative approach to music production, you put on a kickass live show, and you can play just about any instrument around!&lt;/div&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;span style="font-family:Arial;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/center&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-114799030661807135?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/114799030661807135/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=114799030661807135&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/114799030661807135'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/114799030661807135'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2006/05/hehno-surprise-here.html' title='Heh........no surprise here!'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-114793333245891440</id><published>2006-05-18T02:18:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2006-05-18T16:03:25.703-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Rockin' Birthday.....</title><content type='html'>&lt;span style="color:#006600;"&gt;Yesterday was Trent Reznor's 41st birthday.&lt;br /&gt;There's not a musician I admire more anywhere in the universe.&lt;br /&gt;He appeals to my love of authenticity.&lt;br /&gt;Happy 41st, Mr. Reznor.&lt;br /&gt;Hope it was excellent.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-114793333245891440?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/114793333245891440/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=114793333245891440&amp;isPopup=true' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/114793333245891440'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/114793333245891440'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2006/05/rockin-birthday.html' title='Rockin&apos; Birthday.....'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-114575358463530288</id><published>2006-04-22T20:44:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2006-11-28T05:03:09.873-05:00</updated><title type='text'>I have a plan!  I really do!</title><content type='html'>But it's my plan. I made it up. No one else can take credit for this one, and no one better damn try. It's ambitious and enthusiastic, and maybe just a little bit crazy, and I love it. So, anyway, this is the plan.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;1.) Graduate from UofL with bachelor's degrees in BOTH English and Psychology within 2 to 2 1/2 years.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;2.) Kick ass on the GRE--so much so that applying to somewhere (unlike UofL) that's actually a challenge for me is considered necessary and inevitable.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;3.) Apply to Stanford University in the psychology program--the #1 rated psychology program in the country.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;4.) Get into Stanford, move me and my shit to the San Francisco area, and for once in my life, live without a damn safety net.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;5.) At some point during the Stanford years, meet Mr. Right, and ask him to marry me. Actually marry him, and work on making the marriage a balanced, loving, respectful and strong environment for both of us. Work on this as if it's the most important thing in the entire world. Because it is, and it should be.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, there it is. My plan for my next 4-5 years. Take that, doubters!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-114575358463530288?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/114575358463530288/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=114575358463530288&amp;isPopup=true' title='2 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/114575358463530288'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/114575358463530288'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2006/04/i-have-plan-i-really-do.html' title='I have a plan!  I really do!'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>2</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-114168998988912487</id><published>2006-03-06T19:02:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-03-06T21:47:09.553-05:00</updated><title type='text'>"The Christy Paradox"</title><content type='html'>You finally decide you &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;don't&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt; want to do something anymore, and, although you're going to finish what you started, you're not going to put the energy and effort that you could into it, and realize that you just really &lt;em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;don't f***ing care&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;/em&gt; anymore.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;color:#3333ff;"&gt;Why is it that at that point you get really damn good at it?????&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="font-size:180%;color:#3333ff;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt; &lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#3333ff;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="center"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#3333ff;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#330033;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#330033;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#330033;"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div align="left"&gt;&lt;span style="color:#330033;"&gt;Could that be the answer to everything? Just stop caring and it'll all fall into place? &lt;em&gt;What a concept.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-114168998988912487?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/114168998988912487/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=114168998988912487&amp;isPopup=true' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/114168998988912487'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/114168998988912487'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2006/03/christy-paradox.html' title='&quot;The Christy Paradox&quot;'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-113963795245792268</id><published>2006-02-11T00:59:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-02-11T23:45:32.863-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Today's 600 Seconds......</title><content type='html'>I haven't been posting over on &lt;a href="http://600seconds.blogspot.com"&gt;600 seconds &lt;/a&gt;at all lately, but since I'm sitting home tonight with a touch of what is quite possibly the beginning of the flu, or at least a seriously draining head cold, I thought I'd give it a go tonight. My topic was "What the hell is wrong with New York?," and this is what I came up with, and strangely enough, I actually kind of like it. I think it has "potential" anyway. Let me know what you think if you read this, OK? Thanks.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span style="color:#cc33cc;"&gt;"What the hell is wrong with New York?" That was the first thing she said to me after 15 years of absense. No "Hello." No "How you doin'" Not even the "I've missed you," that I'd been hoping for.&lt;br /&gt;"What are you talking about? There's nothing wrong with New York."&lt;br /&gt;"But there is," she said. "Don't tell me you don't see this. It wasn't like this when I left." She pointed impatiently toward the George Washington Bridge.&lt;br /&gt;"You've been gone a long time, Grace, maybe you're not remembering things right."&lt;br /&gt;I leaned down to kiss her, but she was already clearly annoyed with me, and pushed me gently away from her. Damn, that didn't take long. I figured I'd indulge her a little and, maybe, sometime this century I might actually get that kiss.&lt;br /&gt;I looked in the direction she pointed, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary except for a pair of worn out tennis shoes that had been knotted together and tossed over a lamppost. Vaguely Stephen-Kingish, I thought, but nothing that should cause her to react the way she was.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-113963795245792268?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/113963795245792268/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=113963795245792268&amp;isPopup=true' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/113963795245792268'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/113963795245792268'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2006/02/todays-600-seconds.html' title='Today&apos;s 600 Seconds......'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-113809361505261545</id><published>2006-01-24T04:06:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-01-24T04:16:01.093-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Awkward. Weird. Confused. Lonely. Restless.</title><content type='html'>I find it amusing how people come and go in and out of my life. For example, I've pretty much lost touch with everyone I knew as a friend in E'town when I lived there. In all but a couple of cases, it's not their fault or my fault--it's just one of those things. It sucks, though, because I haven't met anyone in Louisville to spend much time with. It makes for a lonely life because I end up spending most of my time alone, even when I don't want to be alone. Whether I like it or not, I suppose it will always be that way. I haven't been able to figure out what it is that's so damn unlikeable about me, but there must be something there that everyone else can see, but that I've somehow been blinded to.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;By the way, for the 2.75 people who've actually read my blog, I finally posted my picture here.  It's over there, to the right.  I know I look mostly normal, but I assure you, underneath that shiny veneer lives the heart and soul of a goth chick.  Seriously.  (Oh, the things I'd say and do if I wasn't afraid to shocking everyone I know out of their complacency and their preconceived notions about me......most wouldn't survive it, and I'm beginning not to care if they do or not.)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-113809361505261545?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/113809361505261545/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=113809361505261545&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/113809361505261545'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/113809361505261545'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2006/01/awkward-weird-confused-lonely-restless_24.html' title='Awkward. Weird. Confused. Lonely. Restless.'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-113737899897600659</id><published>2006-01-15T21:34:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2006-01-15T23:16:26.356-05:00</updated><title type='text'>With any luck, this will pass.  QUICKLY.</title><content type='html'>For whatever reason that may honestly be known only to the universe, today I've developed an almost overwhelming desire to be married, or at least seriously attached to someone.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Don't ask me--I don't know what the hell is wrong with me.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-113737899897600659?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/113737899897600659/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=113737899897600659&amp;isPopup=true' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/113737899897600659'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/113737899897600659'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2006/01/with-any-luck-this-will-pass-quickly.html' title='With any luck, this will pass.  QUICKLY.'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-113497890969719932</id><published>2005-12-19T02:46:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2005-12-23T11:14:10.836-05:00</updated><title type='text'>What the Hell?  No One's Listening Anyway......</title><content type='html'>Ever get the feeling that other people &lt;em&gt;hear&lt;/em&gt; what you say, but aren't really listening to what you're really saying?  Like they can't (or don't want to)interpret what's behind your words, and you can't say what you're actually feeling because it's just entirely too painful to say out loud and everyone would probably just inform you that you're just overreacting and imagining things?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Someone said "No man is an island," but lately I feel like I'm living alone in my own damned &lt;em&gt;GALAXY&lt;/em&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Ever feel like you're being subtly told to "just get over it already," but no one takes the initiative to figure out why you &lt;em&gt;can't&lt;/em&gt; do that?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;People disappear.  Most times, you can't trust anyone.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-113497890969719932?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/113497890969719932/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=113497890969719932&amp;isPopup=true' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/113497890969719932'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/113497890969719932'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2005/12/what-hell-no-ones-listening-anyway.html' title='What the Hell?  No One&apos;s Listening Anyway......'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-113242814537060525</id><published>2005-11-19T14:21:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2005-11-19T14:22:25.380-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Addition to yesterday's post.....</title><content type='html'>I just want a guy with a little courage and stamina--someone I can't send running home to his mother just by being myself.  Is that too much to ask for?&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-113242814537060525?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/113242814537060525/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=113242814537060525&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/113242814537060525'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/113242814537060525'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2005/11/addition-to-yesterdays-post.html' title='Addition to yesterday&apos;s post.....'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-113234063715265926</id><published>2005-11-18T13:57:00.000-05:00</published><updated>2005-11-18T14:03:57.166-05:00</updated><title type='text'>Thirtysomethings..........</title><content type='html'>What is it with men my age (in their thirties)?  Every single one that I've had more than a minute acquaintance with seems to be invariably screwed up.  All I want is a guy close to my age to talk with, spend some time with, just have a little fun with.  But they all seem so egotistical and arrogant and full of themselves and have little, if any, capacity for caring about anyone other than themselves.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Seriously, what am I going to have to resort to?  Am I going to have to start hanging around twenty-something men who haven't realized their egocentric issues yet and drop them the millisecond they turn thirty?  Or should I just start looking at the forty-something (or older) men who've finally gotten over themselves?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Grrrrrrrrr.......the frustration is driving me mad!&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-113234063715265926?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/113234063715265926/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=113234063715265926&amp;isPopup=true' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/113234063715265926'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/113234063715265926'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2005/11/thirtysomethings.html' title='Thirtysomethings..........'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-111976701311106959</id><published>2005-06-26T02:10:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2005-06-26T02:23:33.116-04:00</updated><title type='text'>The Kiss Of Death??????</title><content type='html'>Well.......to make a long story short, the May thing didn't work out.  I barely wrote anything. I really thought that setting the idea up like NaNoWriMo would make me write like it did last November, but it didn't happen.  What was the diffence?  I think it was because last November, a few friends had joined in the madness and we were pushing each other along, checking up on each other, and encouraging each other. Just knowing that there were four other people behind me, cheering me on, asking for updates, and going through the same stuff I was really gave me a focus and a goal to work towards.  Now, no one cares what I'm writing or even if I'm writing.  I just don't have that friendly "fellow-writer--I-know-what-you're-going-through" vibe with anyone anymore.  Sometimes I get afraid that I lost my writing buddies (and losing that connection that seemed to make all the difference) may be the kiss of death for my writing career.  I hope that's not true, but I'm afraid it might be.  I REALLY NEED MY WRITING FRIENDS BACK.&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-111976701311106959?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/111976701311106959/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=111976701311106959&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/111976701311106959'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/111976701311106959'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2005/06/kiss-of-death.html' title='The Kiss Of Death??????'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-111518209694429664</id><published>2005-05-04T00:35:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2005-05-04T00:57:48.556-04:00</updated><title type='text'>A Bit In The Way Of Explanation</title><content type='html'>I mentioned the May 2005 challenge before, but I didn't explain what it meant.  I have challenged myself to write 31, 000 words during the month of May.  I have also invited (begged?  pleaded with? bribed?) those of my writing friends who went through NaNoWriMo with me last November to join me in the challenge.  Out of the five people I sent the challenge to, one isn't able to participate, one said "Sure!", and I haven't heard from the other three (although I'm guessing they aren't going to participate considering it's already May 4th).  So, anyway, I suppose I'll just post my word counts and Angie's when she sends me updates.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I actually AM getting quite a bit of writing done in the last few days.  I'm doing work on two or three different short stories at the same time.  As soon as I figure out my cumulative word count, I'll post it.  (I know you're just &lt;i&gt;dying&lt;/i&gt; to know, and I'm curious myself.)&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-111518209694429664?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/111518209694429664/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=111518209694429664&amp;isPopup=true' title='1 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/111518209694429664'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/111518209694429664'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2005/05/bit-in-way-of-explanation.html' title='A Bit In The Way Of Explanation'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>1</thr:total></entry><entry><id>tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12560724.post-111490531760081615</id><published>2005-04-30T19:52:00.000-04:00</published><updated>2005-04-30T19:55:17.603-04:00</updated><title type='text'>Begin The Begin</title><content type='html'>Basically I'm setting this blog up for myself (and any of my writing friends that I've issued my May 2005 challenge to) to keep track of our writing goals and accomplishments.  With any luck someone will take on the challenge with me.  Otherwise, it will just be me, but that's OK.  I'm becoming used to going it alone.  Guess I'll just have to wait and see......&lt;div class="blogger-post-footer"&gt;&lt;img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/12560724-111490531760081615?l=theundergroundstar.blogspot.com' alt='' /&gt;&lt;/div&gt;</content><link rel='replies' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/feeds/111490531760081615/comments/default' title='Post Comments'/><link rel='replies' type='text/html' href='http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=12560724&amp;postID=111490531760081615&amp;isPopup=true' title='0 Comments'/><link rel='edit' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/111490531760081615'/><link rel='self' type='application/atom+xml' href='http://www.blogger.com/feeds/12560724/posts/default/111490531760081615'/><link rel='alternate' type='text/html' href='http://theundergroundstar.blogspot.com/2005/04/begin-begin.html' title='Begin The Begin'/><author><name>Christy</name><email>noreply@blogger.com</email><gd:image rel='http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail' width='32' height='24' src='http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_cMFLCh4NGD8/SM8VYyKr0hI/AAAAAAAAABQ/E1g1E20pUgQ/S220/uploaded+091508+103.JPG'/></author><thr:total>0</thr:total></entry></feed>
